Ascribe announces partnership to launch eHandover, clinical handover solution

Ascribe has announced a partnership with Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (BHRUT) to bring eHandover, a clinical handover solution, to the UK Acute care sector. The solution will be formally launched at the National Clinical Handover Conference hosted in London on the 30th June 2011. (http://www.healthcare-events.co.uk/event/645)

Clinical handover is a term which describes the transfer of patients’ care between shifts and specialities. Poor clinical handover can compromise patients’ safety and the quality of patient care. Clinical handover involves communication and coordination, important factors in the continuity of quality care. Good clinical handover depends on people, process and technology; no matter how excellent the people a poor process and reliance on handwritten and hastily communicated notes is a clinical weakness.

The need for continuous improvement in the delivery of clinical handover has been increased by changes in Doctors’ hours and the involvement of multi-disciplinary teams and multiple specialities; as well as by a constant motivation to improve patient care and outcomes.

Working together, Ascribe and BHRUT have recognised that a practical solution must be based upon a systematic and structured handover process, supported by easy to use technology. Addressing any single factor, such as staff training or technical solutions does not provide a complete solution or deliver the full patient-centred benefits.

eHandover is a clinician led handover process that is supported by a robust and easy to use software application. The solution:

• Identifies critical patients; handover care packages are documented and actions are recorded with each action clearly allocated to a specific Doctor.
• Manages patient care across the ‘shift gap’ e.g. from the Friday day shift to the Sunday evening shift, where traditional manual handovers experience high rates of miscommunication and breakdown.
• Centralises key patient information making it accessible, enabling informed decisions, and care to be planned.

With a full audit trail and providing a range of reporting options, not only are patients and clinicians protected, the Trust uses audit information as an education source to improve care and patient outcomes. The process is overseen by a senior clinician; to maintain a high standard of clinical governance, and supports the continuing education of junior Doctors.

eHandover is easy to use and is based on standard Microsoft® tools that are readily available in most Trusts, as well as already being familiar to clinicians – it is no exaggeration to say that a Doctor can learn to use this solution in minutes. eHandover is a practical and working solution that has been used to handle over 20,000 handovers for patients at BHRUT to date.

eHandover is more than just an innovative and ground breaking IT solution but also a practical handover methodology that will revolutionise the way we tackle hospital handover in the future. The eHandover solution was highly commended in the ICT category at the NHS Innovations Awards in London 2009.

Dr Aklak Choudhury, the inventor of eHandover commented, "The eHandover solution is the first to identify and successfully manage the shift gap issue which results in significant communication failure and patient risk during nights and weekends in acute trusts across the country.

In just over a year we have recorded over 20,000 handover logs using eHandover at two acute hospital sites. More than 330 unique doctors have requested handovers using the solution with a median usage rate of 36 handovers each. The high user rates for the solution are a testament to eHandover’s simple interface. It recognises the daily workflows that junior doctors deal with and provides the user with the functionality to complete their handover tasks safely, efficiently and without duplication. The PMETB 2010 junior doctors’ survey for medicine ranked BHRUT highest for handover amongst all Acute Care Trusts in London.

We are all very excited about eHandover. It has the potential to standardise handover across hospital trusts in the U.K. We will be describing a ‘Gold standard’ for hospital handover coupling a novel handover methodology with an intuitive I.T. interface. We will be showcasing eHandover’s potential benefits at the National Handover meeting. Look forward to seeing you there”

Dr Aklak Choudhury will be speaking at the Clinical Handover conference in June.

To find out more about eHandover and how it can improve your clinical handover, please book a place at the Clinical Handover conference or contact Ascribe.